Forbes rates Manchester United as world’s most valuable football club

Manchester United are the world’s most valuable football club for a second consecutive year, according to the annual list published by Forbes on Tuesday.

The English Premier League runners-up, who last year ended European champions Real Madrid’s four-year stint at the top of the list, were valued at $4.12 billion, up 12 percent from a year ago, Forbes said in a statement.

The average value of the top 20, which relates to the 2016-17 season, rose by 14 percent over the period.

Real Madrid, who last month won a third straight Champions League title, were second, with a value of $4.08 billion, up 14 percent from the previous year.

According to Forbes, which bases valuation on the level of equity plus net debt, Barcelona or Real Madrid could soon take over top spot — the former because of their consistently high performance in the Champions League and the latter because of additional expected revenue from their renovated stadium when completed in four years.

Forbes said the 20 most valuable soccer teams are now worth an average of $1.69 billion, a rise it attributed to the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro.